Copyright Arkansas Online
Conveyor Technology on Tuesday announced plans at an industry conference in Chicago to begin production of a new cutting-edge electric drum motor that includes sensor technology. The company said the product, TechRoll, is a significant advancement in industrial automation. Chief Executive Officer Justin Carmody said TechRoll represents the next era for drum motors, which combine precision engineering and advanced analytics. "This monitors vibration, temperature, current, including power factor, and that allows customers to see how that motor is performing and take action before it fails," he said. "Continuous run time is our top priority, and this technology ensures exactly that." Carmody said drum motors are a big advantage, as they last longer, are cleaner, safe and are more reliable. Conveyor announced the new motor and analysis system at the Equipment Automation Technology Show for Food & Beverage Chicago Conference. The conference draws in a strong attendance from protein processing companies. The predictive failure analysis system is the first sensor technology built for drum motors, and provides continuous monitoring to allow operators to predict and prevent failures before they occur. Carmody said the company is using machine learning and artificial intelligence to monitor every conveyor and understand any changes. Some of the features included with the technology include: custom hardware and servers, an industrial-grade design, real-time monitoring, AI-powered analytics, cloud infrastructure, and smart email and text alerts. Chairman Todd Denton said this announcement is a pivotal moment for the food and processing industry. "With the TechRoll Electric Drum Motor and our Predictive Failure Analysis technology, we're helping customers extend motor life, improve reliability and virtually eliminate unplanned downtime," he said. Carmody said production downtime is a big issue for companies in the processing industry, with it at times costing thousands of dollars for each minute a processing machine isn't on. "They want to plan when they're down and to do maintenance before, so this predictive failure analysis is sweeping the industry," he said. "This is the first time it's available in a drum motor." Other than downtime, Carmody said the industry is moving forward when it comes to technology and efficiency, and this motor is in line with the trend. Another attractive point of the system is that existing drum motors can be retrofitted with the new technology. Carmody said the new motor and preventive analysis won't improve poultry worker safety, as drum motors already address worker safety. "Putting a drum motor on a conveyor allows you to say, 'I've done everything that technology will permit to make that a safer conveyor,'" he said. When Conveyor announced a $33 million expansion in North Little Rock in June, the company shifted from just being an electric drum motor distributor to a producer. "We vertically integrated and are now manufacturing the product," he said. Carmody said the idea for this project was sparked over 25 years ago when a client asked about its possibilities, and the new facility has allowed the company to move forward with it. "When we began manufacturing these drum motors this was my first priority, because this allows the customer an insight into what's happening with the motor before it fails," he said. Carmody said the predictive analysis system is patent pending, and undertaking other certifications, and anticipates its release in February next year. Outside of the poultry or meat processing industry, Carmody said the new motor and technology would be useful anywhere conveyors are installed. "This is just the starting point," he said.
